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Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions
Background: Ralph Edwards Productions is a production company originally formed in 1940 by Ralph Edwards that began with the radio production game show, Truth or Consequences first on CBS Radio, then later NBC Radio. Ten years later, the series would make its television debut on NBC while the radio broadcast lasted until 1957. In 1981, Edwards joined forces with Stewart C. Billett (a.k.a. "Stu Billett") and created the court talk series, The People's Court, which is still running today since its revival in 1997. The company is also known as "Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions" since 1986. Ralph Edwards Productions has been running independently for 76 years today, as the company holds surviving tapes of game shows and the copyright holder of The People's Court. 1st Logo (1950-81) Logo: On the end credits, we see the text "A RALPH EDWARDS PRODUCTION" superimposed. A RALPH EDWARDS PRODUCTION FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: The end-title theme from any show. Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on the original versions of Truth or Consequences and This is Your Life, About Faces, Knockout, The Cross-Wits (1975), Name That Tune (1974), and It Could Be You. On DVD, this can be seen on This is Your Life: The Ultimate Collection. Scare Factor: None. 2nd Logo (1981-87) Logo: We see the following words stacked on top of one another as an in-credit text over the set: THE PEOPLE'S COURT Ralph Edwards Productions in association with Stu Billett Productions © YEAR Ralph Edwards Productions FX/SFX: None. But for the 1986-87 season episodes, this logo was played over stills from the day's episodes of that period. Music/Sounds: Just the closing theme of The People's Court playing over this logo. Availability: Seen on the first six seasons of Joe Wapner-era The People's Court, followed by the 1978 variation of the Telepictures logo (1981-86 episodes) or Lorimar-Telepictures (1986-87 episodes), which like this version of the Edwards-Billet Production logo, also plays over the set. Might have also appeared on So You Think You Got Troubles?!. Scare Factor: None. 3rd Logo (1986-93) Nickname: "EB" Logo: Superimposed over a cloudy sky at sunset with palm trees, we see a segmented orange "EB" in a futuristic font. Below that is the orange text "RALPH EDWARDS STU BILLETT PRODUCTIONS" all separated by lines. The logo is arranged like this: EB R A L P H__E D W A R D S ___S T U__B I L L E T T___ P--R--O--D--U--C--T--I--O--N--S A Ralph Edwards Productions (or Ralph Edwards/Stu Billett Productions) copyright date is below that. The logo then fades to the WB Television logo of the time. Variants: *On Superior Court, there is an additional Lorimar-Telepictures notice. *On some episodes of Superior Court, the logo appears more stretched out, and a different sky background is used. *On Truth or Consequences (1987), the logo and text are in white. FX/SFX: Just a still logo against a live-action BG. Music/Sounds: The ending theme to The People's Court with an announcer saying "(show name) is produced by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television ("in association with Lorimar-Telepictures" on Superior Court and "is distributed by" Lorimar-Telepictures on the fall 1987-89 episodes on The People's Court with the Lorimar-Telepictures logo playing with this logo's background).". No announcer is used on Truth or Consequences. Availability: Seen at the end of Joseph Wapner-hosted episodes of The People's Court, as well as Superior Court and the 1987 version of Truth or Consequences. It also would have presumably been seen on the unsold 1990 pilot for a revival of Monty Hall's SplitSecond, which was produced by them (Billett had been a producer on the original 1970s version); however, those pilots are only known to be held by the UCLA video archive. Scare Factor: None. 4th Logo (1995-1996) Nicknames: "EB II", "Marble EB" Logo: On a white marble background (similar to Lorimar's 1988 logo), we see a red stylized "E" and a red stylized "B" along with a red border missing a left vertical line move in from the top left and top bottom corners. Yellow text fades in below. The logo is arranged like so: EB ralph edwards/stu billett productions FX/SFX: The E, B, and border moving in from the corners, the text fading in below. Music/Sounds: The end theme plays as we hear host/announcer Annie Wood say, "This show was created and produced by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions". Availability: Seen on the first season of the short-lived game show Bzzz! Scare Factor: None. 5th Logo (1996-2001) Logo: On a blurry, black background with two stylized EB's from the first two logos, we see this blurry gold-colored logo: RALPH EDWARDS/ STU BILLETT/ PRODUCTIONS On top, a logo that can be seen more clearly fades in, and it is arranged as follows: RALPH EDWARDS '' ''STU BILLETT '' ''PRODUCTIONS FX/SFX: The fading in of the clearly-seen logo. Music/Sounds: The end theme plays. On Bzzz!, we also hear host/announcer Annie Wood say, "This show was created and produced by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions. And boy, did we have fun!". Availability: Seen at the end of Ed Koch and Jerry Scheindlin-hosted episodes of The People's Court, if ever reran. Also seen on the second (and final) season of Bzzz!. Scare Factor: None. 6th Logo (2001- ) Logo: Against a blurry shot of a courtroom, including a shot of the judge's gavel, some faint segmented lines with "EB" written in them in script fade-in. The words "RALPH EDWARDS / STU BILLETT PRODUCTIONS" in Copperplate Gothic Bold, fade in over them, along with the letters "EB" in the same font as the previous logos. Variant: Beginning in fall 2012, the logo is stretched to fill a 16:9 TV. FX/SFX: The courtroom BG, the appearance of the blurry "EB", the appearance of the company name. Music/Sounds: The ending theme to The People's Court with Curt Chaplin saying "The People's Court is a Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Production.". Availability: Current. It's seen at the end of Marilyn Milian-hosted episodes of The People's Court in syndication. Scare Factor: None.